On Hijab's Martyrdom

I remember reading in a Cilantro's (a coffeeshop) monthly publication (I know!) a couple of years ago an article about Empowering the Veiled Woman, and thinking "does she really need more empowerement? it seems to me that in Egypt, she's almost invincible!"

Recently, the empowerement campaign took a new direction, for it no longer became limited to peer pressure, repentant-actresses/bellydancers-turned-preachers on TV shows, stickers on public transportation windows or the occasional newspaper article on the importance of Hijab.

After the death of Marwa El Sherbini, our good old media started placing their bets on the "Martyr of Hijab" horse.

First off I have to state (preemptively) that Marwa's death is truly tragic, it is a horrific thing that she was killed, as well as why she was killed.

That said, let's admit we have a very advanced Martyr Complex in Egypt, and that complex has driven us to turn Marwa into an icon.

Which is okay, really... maybe she should be iconized, maybe not... but that's hardly the issue here.

The issue is that iconizing Marwa isn't enough for certain people, because Marwa is a person... and a dead one at that!

Those people would much rather iconize something that is alive and well, and make it even more alive by iconizing it.

That thing is of course the Hijab.

Which is a joke, really!

You want to know why Hijab can't be a martyr? Or a flag under which martyrs can gather?!

Because outside Europe, and particularly in Egypt, there is hardly anybody who wants it dead, so it can never become a martyr!

Go for a walk down the streets of Egypt and take a look around...

If you would rather remain at home, read this

And If you don't feel like clicking on the above link, here's a bottom line:

ولعل المثير أخيراً هو ما يتنطع به أشباه الكتبة بزعمهم أن الحجاب مستهدف فى مصر، وهذا لغو ينفيه الواقع تماماً، فنظرة واحدة على أى شارع فى أى مدينة مصرية، تؤكد أن غير المحجبة الآن هى إحدى اثنتين: فإما أن تكون مسيحية، أو من بقايا النخبة الاجتماعية التى لم ترضخ بعد لابتزاز الغزو الوهابى، واختارت.. وتحملت ثمن حريتها، رغم محاولات مروجى الهوس الدينى لممارسة الوصاية على خلق الله.

Have some logic, because you can't make Hijab both dominant and oppressed.

And if you manage to, well that says a lot about those who buy your shit.

Can It Ever Work? ii

One of the main points of an article I've just read recently, is how our low self-esteem (with just reason, we're a country corrupt to the marrow!) is actually causing our superficial religiousness.

Along with Python's comments on the previous post, I think we can start thinking in the direction that one way to remedy our combined corruption/fanaticism is to try and replace value in people's lives.

Now what can possibly inject value into a bloated, vulgar and empty-headed community?

It could be rewarding work, it could be intellectual stimulation (yes, I know the term sounds too haughty for the street quality of the problem, but play along will ya!), and it could be... love.

I personally believe that Love gives lovers a sense of value, as well as purpose and (usually) compassion. And oh how we need value, purpose & compassion!

I'm open to suggestions to other alternatives, but for now at least, I have this list of values.

Now all we need is a strategic plan detailing how to promote those vaules, I guess.

And in the way of progressive revelation, let that be continued...

Can It Ever Work?

I've been feeling down today...

Probably because I've read this, watched this, and then thought about this:

Are people really are so impossible to enlighten?

Tarek Heggy seemed to be saying that although he works so that light will somehow get through, his hopes are rather low that it will!

Then there's that video...

The simple question of "Why is a group of Christians praying in a place "without a license" a problem for anybody" simply had no reasonable answer.

I'd understand it being a problem if you're a policemen charged with upholding the law (regardless how outrageous that law may be)... but if you're a layman who breaks a dozen laws a day, and then you get worked up enough about Christians praying "without a license" (ugh, I can't believe I'm actually arguing about this!) to commit acts of violence to stop it, and you happen to have tens or hundreds of like-minded people with you... then you can't possibly tell me it's because "they have no license" or "they're breaking the law"! And the "eye witness" was honest (ha!) enough about it to say his problem is "they're too few"!!!!

The fact that people can be so hateful, ignorant and illogical, and harm others because of that, cobined with the incredible notion that they can get away with it and even get official support from a senator to do it, makes Tarek Heggy too right! There seems to be a lack of will to change on the streets as well as in the top-floor offices.

Then to try & cheer myself up, I decided to read anything for G. K. Chesterton off the web.

It worked for a little while, too well in fact, that it made me think again about why almost nobody knows this guy

And that got me back into the pithole...

Because it seems that being insightful, compassionate, funny, wise and right doesn't necessarily lead to making a change at all!

and I started wondering (forgive my arrogance) if maybe I can be like Chesterton; but like Chesterton, would make no difference whatsoever in changing people or the events they cause to happen, so that it would lead to a brighter future.

That's a serious frustration because as I believe it, things and people on all levels must eventually and through providence, be enlightened.

and like Switchfoot put it, the tension is between how it is and how it should be.

that tension is... well... such a bummer!

In Providence

I've been blessed enough to see providence up close.

I remember how I thought that I needed to make a certain amount of money to be able to sustain my family in Egypt, and how I was offered 500 pounds more.

And lately I've felt that we need a bit more money, and I was thinking that if my wife gets any job, we'll need that job to pay a certain amount of money, and guess what happens? A job comes along, and she gets offered 500 pounds more!

I like knowing that I get more than I hope for, and I like feeling safe to hope for more.

I also like how the word providence is related to the word provide,

Fittingly enough, one can etymologically link providence to providing to vision.

I like God providing for us, and I like it when I can spot a larger vision than mine in what he causes to happen with us.

So this is to remind myself of you, your thoughts and your work, Father...

Thank You, I love You.

Don't Insult Our Intellegence

For self-educational purposes, I've spent some time watching the Eqraa Channel.

At first, I caught that Mostafa Hosny guy... and I must admit that watching him took a lot of self-restraint, because that guy manages to be all touchy-feely while putting on a macho attitude, which is no mean feat I'm sure, but it gets on my nerves like nothing else, even before I've listened to what he has to say!

Then I came across some programme episodes for Basma Wahba, one of them is the infamous "Wa Ma Malakat Aymanakom" show where she plays cat & mouse with two Azhar proffessors.

In that show, she keeps asking & they keep avoiding her questions.

The show features one angry proffessor who storms out midway through the show then comes back (I'm not sure how the producers brought him back, maybe they waved some contract at him & threatened a lawsuit, or maybe they talked him into having a drink of yansoon then grovelled a bit... I don't know, and I hardly care *shrugs*)

The show also features another proffessor whose motto seemed to be "When in doubt, Sing!", as he consistently chanted verses of Quran in response to every question, which would have been useful (although a tad theatrical) had the particular verses he chose provided answers to the questions, which sadly, they didn't.

Now, when I watched that Basma Wahba show, I didn't think of those people as merely addressing muslims (although of course they are), but particularly as addressing Egyptians.

The woman was Egyptian, and so were the Azhar people... and she was trying to get them to respond to Fr. Zakareya Boutros who is also Egyptian... so the whole thing felt like a local problem!

And as an Egyptian, I felt involved (although I admit, not as closely involved as any muslim watching), and as an involved party (no matter how remotely) I have a right to feel insulted by that show!

It's not that they looked like they had no answer, and it's not just that they seemed to think none was necessary... but it's mostly because they wasted more than half an hour talking & still managed to say absolutely nothing of use!

It felt very insulting to my intellegence... it's like I wasn't supposed to notice when they dodged a question by providing an irrelevent answer, or when they lingered on side topics to avoid the main issue, or when they threw up tantrums to divert attention away from their lack of knowledge, or when the "singing proffessor" started chanting to add an aura of "holiness" to the emptyness of his answers! (as well as waste programme time, get more screen time, and advertise for his chanting talents!)

That Egyptian youth have to put up with these games, along with all the arrogance, ignorance and weak arguments (if we're lucky enough to hear any arguments at all) is insulting.

And not only that, the implicit fact that Egyptian muslim youth are supposed to be like them is very, very insulting!

Egyptian muslims are supposed to repeat what those Azharians said (what was that, again?!) in response to questions about themselves, other people and God... from themselves, other people and yes maybe even from God!

So to anybody who ever assumes a position where they become teachers, please don't insult our intellegence. And if not for our sakes, let it be for your sakes, for logic's sake and for your God's sake!

The Forty Things

Hey everyone, check this out, did anyone ever see this before?

Go ahead & take a look, seriously.

No really, it's so useful. I mean this ought to lift up your spirits with the current state of the job market.

You think I'm kidding? Okay, skip the article & read the comments section...

People are all so psyched!

Some people even seem to have been rescued from suicide upon reading it. (there might be some who weren't, but I guess we'll never know how many)

Okay, seriously seriously now... what the **** is this ****?!

It's not the article itself that is making me this incredulous, I mean the article is what it is: half a joke, half commercial nonesense (it is after all, an article on Bayt, not Forbes!) and you expect nothing more from Bayt.com, nor from an article entitled "Forty Things To Do When You're Fired"!

It's the comments that really got to me.

I wanted to see comments that take the article as what it is: a joke. I only found one comment mentioning laughing about it.

Everyone seemed to take the "advice" of the article seriously.

Seriously?!!

I've been through that feeling of being unemployed before, while having responsibilities to worry about.

The feeling of panic slowly building up till it reaches your mouth, like water pouring inside a box with a rat inside and... too serious, mate, tone it down

Okay, so what I'm trying to say is that if you actually were fired or about to be, this article would drive you up the wall with its combo of desperate humor and useless pop culture advice... it's almost depressing.

And how people seemed to take it is even funnier than the article, in an even more desperate and depressing sense!